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(No- Model.)

A. LAKE. THEATER APPLIANCE.

No. 520,236. Patented May 22, 1894.

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f i I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AMARIAH LAKE, OF PLEASAN'IVILLE, NEW JERSEY.

THEATER APPLIANCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 520,236, dated May22,1894. Application filed April 22, 1893- Serial No. 471,506- (Nomodel.)

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AMARIAH LAKE, a citizen of the United States, andaresident of Pleasantville, Atlantic county, New Jersey, have inventedcertain Improvements in Illusion Apparatus, of which the following is aspecification.

The main object of my invention is to construct an illusion apparatus inthe nature of a ra lway car, so that while the car is really stationary,the occupants of the car are subect to the illusion that the car is inrapid motion. Incidental to this main illusion, I also provide others,such as that of an ascending or descending grade, jumping off the track,a collision and a passage through a rain storm, all fully set forthhereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings :Figure l, is a longitudinal section,partly in elevation, of an illusion apparatus embodying my invention.Fig. 2, is a plan view of the same with the car body in section; andFigs. 3, 4, 5 and 6, are views illustrating, on a larger scale, certaindetails of the device.

In Fig. 1, A represents a structure in imitation of a railway passengercar having rear platform, seats, windows and interior furnishings of anydesired character and lighted upon the inside by any suitable means, asfor instance by electric lamps a. The car has axles b with wheels bwhich run in contact with supporting wheels B, the shafts of the latterbeing carried by the opposite ends of an arm D which has a trunnionshaft 61 adapted to a slot d in one or more fixed standards or frames F,suitably mounted upon and secured to the floor F of the room orapartment in which the apparatus is located. The shafts f of the wheelsB have pulleys g which are connected by means of a belt g, and the shaftof one of said wheels B has another pulley g which is driven by a belt gfrom a pulley upon any convenient power shaft.

Beneath the car is a flooring Gupon which are representations of rails,the portion of the flooring immediately beneath the car, however, beingseparate from the end portions and being pivotally mounted upon theupper end of the standard F as shown in Fig. 1.

The wheels I) of the car are not in contact with the rails upon theflooring Gbut rest upon and are supported by the wheels B, hence whensaid wheels B are turned, turning movement in a reverse direction willbe imparted to the wheels I) of the car.

At each side of the car are horizontally traveling curtains H in theform of endless aprons or bands whichare mounted upon upright drums H,one of these drums being mounted in suitable fixed bearings in the doorG and in the ceiling above the car, but the other drum of each endlesscurtain being adapted to hearings in adjustable hangers h, so that theapron can always be kept stretched perfectly tight. Owing to the sizeand weight of the curtains H some means other than their frictional holdupon the drums H must be resorted to in order to sustain said curtainsin their proper vertical position, and for this purpose various meansmay be adopted, the means which I have selected for illustration inFigs. 3 and a of the drawings being ropes 1 applied to the upper andlower edges of the curtain and adapted to grooves t" formed at the upperand lower ends of the drums H, so that as long as these ropes aremaintained in the grooves of the drums the aprons are prevented fromslipping down on the latter. If desired, an idler pulley 11 such forinstance, as shown in Fig. 5, may be used in connection with the groovedportion of each drum, in order to insure the retention in the groove ofthe rib formed by the rope at the edge of the apron. The drums of eachapron may be driven in any suitable manner so as to cause that portionof said apron which is adjacent to the side of the car to travelrearward so as to subject the occupants of the car to the illusion thatthe latter is really traveling forward.

In Fig. l I have shown the drums of each apron as provided beneath thefloor G with. pulleys H connected by means of a belt H, the fixed drumalso having another pulley H for the reception of the driving belt Hwhich may lead to a pulley on any available power shaft.

To the opposite ends of the arm D are pivoted upright bars I slotted atthe upper ends for the reception of the axles b of the wheels I) of thecar, and also slotted at the lower ends for receiving the axles m ofwheels m, each of these wheels being provided on its periphery with oneor more cams or lugs m The axles m are carried by the opposite ends ofan arm J which has a trunnion shaft 9% adapted to a slot 02 in thestandard F, this arm J being connected byalink J to an arm J which ishung to a short standard J and is provided, at the outer end, with apivoted nut J which receives a vertical screw stem J 5 mounted so as tobe free to turn in a suitable bearing on the floor F and provided at itsupper end with side plates 8 which flank a slotted plate 8 carried by avertical shaft .9 passing up through the floor of the car and mounted ina suitable bearing thereon, said shaft being provided at its upper endwith a handle 5 A bolt 5 passes from one of the side plates 8 to theother through the slot of the plate 8, so that, when the shaft 5 isturned, the screw stem J 5 is caused to turn therewith, but said shaft:3 is free to rise and fall without disturbing its operative connectionwith said screw stem J By turning the shaft :9 the arm J can be liftedso as to bring the periphcries of the wheels m into contact with thoseof the wheels B and thus cause said wheels m to rotate and as the camsor lugs m come into contact with the wheels B, a sudden jolt is impartedto said wheels and thence to the wheels I) and the car, the slot (1' inthe standard F permitting the necessary rise of the arm D. By this meansthe occupants of the car are subjected to the illusion that the car hasleft the track and is bumping over the ties.

In order to tilt the car body, so as to produce the illusion of anascending or descending grade, said car body has mounted in the frontend of the same a shaft 25 having. at the upper end a hand wheel 25 andthreaded in the lower portion for adaptation to a nut t on the floor G,hence, by turning the shaft 2? in one direction or the other, the frontend of the car body may be raised or depressed to any desired extent,the arms D and J swinging on their trunnion shafts and the centralsection of the flooring G also swinging on its pivot shaft in accordancewith such movement of the car body. The same result is reached if thecar body itself is centrally pivoted.

To suitable standards K in front of the car is hung a weight K having acentral recess or opening which is crossed by a thin board K held inposition at each end by suitable guides or clips on the face of theweight, and on the front of the car body is a projection L withdepending block L. Hung to one of the standards K is a lever M, thefront end of which is adapted to engage with and hold the weight K in aforwardly inclined position, as shown in Fig. 1, the rear end of thelever projecting into the car so as to be within easy reach of theattendant, who occupies a position in the front of the car. On operatingthis lever so as to release the weight K the latter swings toward thecar so as to first bring the light board K into contact with theprojection L whereby the board is broken, while at the same time, oralmost instantly afterward, the lower portion of the weight comes intocontact with the block L' and strikes the same a blow suflicient toimpart a sudden shock or jar to the car body,

thus simulating a collision with its accompaniment of splinteringtimbers. In order to increase the force of the blow, the movement of theweight may be assisted by a spring if desired.

Mounted above the car is a water vessel P, which has beneath it aperforated distributing pipe P, and in the short neck connectin g saidwater vessel with said pipe is a valve P the handle of which is providedwith a cord '0 running over asuitable pulley and terminating within thecar within easy reach of the attendant, who, by pulling upon said cord,canopen the valve P and thereby permit the water to flow upon the top ofthe car in fine streams or drops simulating rain, the water drippingfrom the eaves of the car and falling past the windows to be caught insuitable troughs or other receptacles below the same. 7

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent 1. The combination of the car body having rows of windowopenings and interior furnishings, with the endless curtains or apronsmounted upon vertical drums so as to occupy a position adjacent to saidwindow openings on each side of the car body, and means for horizontallytraversing said curtains past said rows of window openings,substantially as specified.

2. The combination of the carbody having rows of window openingstherein, the endless curtains or aprons disposed upon vertical drums soas to occupy a position adjacent to said window openings, mechanism forrotating said drums, and means for vertically supporting the aprons uponthe drumsindependently of their frictional hold upon the same,substantially as specified.

3. The combination of the car body having wheels, the endless curtains,means for traversing the same, supporting wheels upon which the carwheels rest, means for rotating said supporting wheels, cam wheels,adapted by contact with the driving wheels to cause a jolting of thesame, and means for moving said cam wheels into and out of engagementwith the driving wheels,substantiallyas specified.

4. The combination of the car body, the endless curtains and means fortraversing the same, with means for tipping the car body and retainingthe same in the tipped position, substantially as specified.

5. The combination of the car body, the endless curtains and means fortraversing the same, a weight mounted in front of the car body, andmeans for holding said weight away from the car body and for releasingthe IO lease of the weight, substantially as specified.

7. The combination of the car body, the endless curtains, and means fortraversing the same, with a water distributer located above the roof ofthe car, and a valve controlling the flow of'water from said distributerupon I 5 the roof of the car, substantially as specified.

AMARIAH LAKE. WVitnesses:

ALVIN P. RIsLEY, JOSHUA LAKE.

